1. Inclusive Householder Participation in the Smart Grid:
a Case Study of Demand-Side Flexibility and Domestic Energy Storage in Practice (in NL & UK)
Robin Smale, PhD candidate
Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University, NL
Co-author: Sanneke Kloppenburg
Presentation at conference “Energy and Society”, Leipzig, Germany
September 13, 2016

2. Introduction
Renewable energy generates a need for demand-side flexibility and energy storage
In the smart grid, householders are empowered and incentivized to become ‘co-managers’ of the energy system
(Strengers, 2008)
New system-needs interact with established energy practices

3. Research question How can I reduce my energy bill in the smart grid?
What smart energy management practices and flows of benefits are attached to demand-side flexibility and domestic energy storage,
...and how inclusive are these practices and flows of benefits?
How can I reduce my energy bill in the smart grid?
What does it take to be a good ‘co-manager’, and what do you get out of it?

4. Case studies: Smart Energy pilot projects
Together Smart with Energy (NL)
Goal alignment between an energy collective and grid manager
Monitoring & time-shifting
Your Energy Moment (NL)
Smart time-shifting
Householder  grid manager
ERIC and SWELL (UK)
Local demand-generation matching
Domestic energy storage

5. From consumer to co-manager
‘How can I reduce my energy bill?’
Energy conservation (investing in energy efficiency, reducing wasteful use, daily energy saving)
Generating renewable energy (solar, wind)
Reflected in energy bill (80%), feed-in tariff
Feed-in tariff is phased-out, dynamic energy tariffs phased-in
Composition of energy costs will change due to demand for flexibility and storage
Consumer  Prosumer
Prosumer  Co-manager?

6. Information, products, services
Conceptual framework
Saving / conserving
‘Smart’ fuel poverty
Inclusiveness
Generating
Energy practices
Timing
Storing
Flows of benefits
Lifeworld
Grid services
Information, products, services
Energy system
Energy conservation
DREG
Demand-side flexibility
Energy storage

7. Grid services provided by households
Grid services performed by householders
Contributes to the grid by...
Energy conservation
...reducing peak and overall energy demand
Distributed renewable energy generation (DREG)
...increasing local or overall RE supply; at the cost of increasing supply intermittency
Demand-side flexibility
(voluntary and direct control)
...reducing peak energy demand (peak-shaving, gap-filling)
Energy storage
...reducing peak energy supply and demand by charging and discharging during gaps and peaks; increasing self-consumption of RE
Four mechanisms through which householders can be ‘economic agents’ in the energy system

8. Grid services performed by householders
Incentive mechanisms
Grid services performed by householders
Incentive mechanisms
Emphasis
Energy conservation
Size of energy bill is proportional to the amount of energy consumed
Direct and indirect subsidies ↘
Distributed renewable energy generation (DREG)
Feed-in tariff
Self-consumption or local sharing →
Demand-side flexibility
(voluntary and direct control)
Dynamic time-of-day energy pricing
Reductions on energy contract ↗
(SWELL, JEM1/2, ERIC, SSME)
Energy storage
Storage-to-grid input
Self-consumption or local sharing of stored energy
(SWELL, ERIC, JEM2)

9. Flows of benefits Zooming in on project SWELL:
Passing down timing-of-use savings to residents
Locally exchanged RE instead of cheap feed-in
Locally exchanged RE generated £116 for PV owners and £80 savings for non-generating consumers (March)
Project SWELL’s simulated time-of-day energy tariff.

10. Back to the Lifeworld of householders
Grid services provided by households imply the performance of energy management practices
But what does it take to perform practices of
conserving, generating, timing and storing?

11. Timing-of-use involves monitoring, and a new practical sensibility
Participant JEM A:
‘But in the course of the day I also check – is the sun shining? Okay then I do the laundry now, now the sun shines. Then it [the tariff] automatically goes down. … That is the fun of the whole project’.
Participant JEM B:
‘After a while I wasn’t concerned with it [the home energy management device]. It is a variable tariff, it changes every 15 minutes, but still - you learn the patterns.’

12. Timing-of-use involves monitoring, and a new practical sensibility
Mary’s blog, ‘confessions of a deviant demand-shifter’ (SWELL)
“So what have I managed? I have put the washing on in the middle of a sunny day, or at night. While I have a delay function on the washing machine, I naturally keep late hours so switching the machine on before I go to bed works quite well.”
“Summer is finally here (really we have had some sun) and the days are longer. I am finding that demand shifting to match the sunshine is much easier.”

13. Timing-of-use facilitated by smart technologies
Project SWELL: timing-of-use is facilitated by Smart-plugs.
JEM: Average demand of smart laundry machines over the day.

14. Energy storage case study: Maslow battery
Automatic
Monitoring
Automatic
Automatic
Maslow domestic energy storage devices comes paired with software that automates charging and discharging.

15. Overview: practices involved in providing grid services
Grid service provided by household
Energy practices involved?
Energy conservation
Daily conservation practices
Practices involved in improving energy efficiency of the home through retrofitting, technology upgrade
D-REG (PV)
Contacting experts, calculating suitability of roof, pay-back times
Having PV installed; maintenance; monitoring generation (often or rarely); ‘recalculating’ energy bills
Flexibility (demand time-shifting)
Monitoring, pre-programming, remote controlling
Practices involved in smart retrofitting of the home
Energy storage
Variety of intensities of engagement & agency possible:
Black box, choose a setting
Monitor, exchange, relate to time-of-day tariffs

16. Grid service provided by household
How inclusive?
Grid service provided by household
Equity effect
Explanation
Energy conservation +
Subsidies in place
Practice is widespread
Low entry barrier
Fast pay-back time
D-REG (PV) -
Promotion via market instruments (feed-in tarrifs and subsidies)
Knowledge, agency, capital, roof required
Flexibility (demand time-shifting)
Active and automated demand-response potential is larger for high consumption homes
Time-shifting is fun for PV owners
Energy literacy, time, capital required
Energy storage
++ to +
Low entry barrier (little active management required)
‘Mode of circulation’ undetermined
Device fits in any home
Energy storage buffers rising peak energy costs for those who do not or can not time-shift their demand

17. Conclusion
The system-need for flexibility and energy storage shapes the participation of householders in the smart grid
Grid services require the performance of smart energy management practices
Householders are varyingly capable or willing to participate in the smart grid ‘regime’ and to benefit from its incentive structures
Domestic energy storage is less ‘demanding’ of householders than demand-side flexibility
Fuel poverty implications?

18. Thank you
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